Trans Wales: The Complete History of the TransWales MTB Stage Race Across Wales (2006–2010)
Between 2006 and 2010, a seven-day mountain bike race worked its way across the hills of mid and north Wales each August, towing a tented village behind it. The Trans Wales — written TransWales by its organisers, and usually carrying a title sponsor’s name in front of that — brought multi-day stage racing to the UK — a mountain bike race Wales hosted on its own trails, built deliberately in the mould of the TransAlp, the TransRockies and the Cape Epic. It no longer runs. This page documents what the TransWales race was — the Trans Wales MTB stage race in full, how its rally-style format worked, where it went, who backed it and why it mattered, drawing on the event’s own published material.
For the finer detail behind this overview, the format is broken down on the concept page, the week itself on the event page, the 2006 route on the stage breakdown and the year-by-year story on the history pages.
What the TransWales was
The TransWales race was a seven-day team mountain bike stage event, first held from 12th to 20th August 2006 and organised by Bristol-based Mountain Bike Events Ltd. Its launch pitch was refreshingly honest about its inspiration. Multi-day stage races such as the TransAlp, the TransRockies and the Cape Epic had, in the organisers’ words, been “on the top of the event wish list for thousands of mountain bikers around the world” — the TransAlp was booking out within hours of registration opening and had drawn over 800 teams a year since its start almost a decade earlier. The TransWales took the concept of those events and applied it to the terrain and conditions of Wales.
The timing was no accident. Mountain bike marathons had been running in the UK for more than half a decade by 2006 and had, in the organisers’ words, turned the scene and the industry around: what was once a sport for a few “race horses” had become mass participation. The TransWales was conceived as the next step — an event demanding not just power but tactics, pacing, equipment and the right frame of mind, stretched across a full week.
In its launch year the field was capped at 150 teams of two riders, across male, female, mixed and veteran (40+) categories, with a solo category added before the start. Entry in 2006 cost £400 per rider, secured with a £100 deposit, and covered food, camping, luggage transport, a fully marked and marshalled course with roaming medical cover, a finishing jersey and an event holdall that doubled as each rider’s luggage for the week. What riders actually signed up for is covered on the entry page.
An MTB stage race in the rally mould
What set the TransWales apart from every other MTB stage race of its era was its format. Rather than timing riders from the start of each day to the finish, the organisers split the week into two very different kinds of riding — a structure they themselves compared to a car rally.
The backbone was a series of un-timed linking stages: long, mostly off-road days of 33 to 90 kilometres carrying the race from one overnight location to the next. Each had a cut-off time, announced only at the morning briefing, and teams aimed to arrive as close to that limit as possible without breaking it. Riders carried a basic map and route description to back up a fully marked course — but no profile of the day’s climbing, which was revealed only at the briefing. Pacing therefore became strategy rather than arithmetic; arriving late brought penalties that fed into the timed results, and unannounced checkpoints stopped anyone cutting the course short.
Against those long, tactical days stood four short, sharp special stages — time trials held on what the organisers billed as “some of the best purpose built mountain bike trails in the world”. Three ran as relays, one rider covering the first half of the loop and their partner finishing it; one ran as a team time trial with both riders on course together, and one stage was held in the dark. The special stages were optional — a team not chasing the overall could sit them out or ride them purely for the singletrack — but anyone wanting a say in the overall classification had to ride all four.
The organisers’ own summary of the contrast is worth preserving: on the linking stages the order of the day was conserving energy, minimising wear on equipment and enjoying the scenery; the special stages were “gripping fights for split seconds”, where concentration and speed decided whether a team stood on the podium or in front of it. The full mechanics — cut-off rules, briefings, penalties, checkpoint and feeding arrangements — are explained on the TransWales concept page.
Who rode the Trans Wales
The Trans Wales inherited the broad church that the big international “Trans” events had already built. The organisers described a field containing “everything from mountain bike racer, marathon specialist, extreme tourer, adventure racer and lots of other general sports fanatics who have never spent countless hours in the saddle but are up for the big challenge”. The event was not pitched at elite racers alone: the official line on fitness was that riders should have done the odd long-distance event and ride regularly — pacing, eating and drinking enough mattered more than raw form.
The team-of-two format shaped the experience: teams managed the linking stages together, sharing mechanical duties and covering for each other’s weaknesses. The organisers even ran an informal partner-matching service for entrants without a team-mate, and from 2006 a solo category ran alongside the pairs.
The field became genuinely international: by 2009 the start list numbered 180 riders from 13 nationalities across four continents, including — for the first time that year — a rider from Kenya. Families and friends were welcome to follow the race from camp to camp in caravans and mobile homes, provided the organisers knew in advance how much space to set aside.
The terrain: four trail centres and the hills of Wales
The riding was the event’s strongest card. The TransWales threaded its route through the purpose-built trail centres Wales was then famous for — four of the six renowned centres existing in Wales at the time, in the organisers’ description — as venues for its special stages:
- Nant-y-Arian (off the A44) — venue for the first special stage in 2006, a 16 km relay time trial with 310 m of climbing.
- Coed-y-Brenin (off the A470) — host of the night special stage in 2006, a 10 km team time trial with 280 m of climbing, run from the old trail centre from 8.30 pm with riders setting off into the dark at 30-second intervals.
- The Cli-machx trail (south of Corris, off the A487, near Machynlleth; later coverage spelled it Climachx) — a 15 km relay time trial with 340 m of climbing.
- The Cwm-y-Rhayader trail (south-west of Rhandirmwyn) — the final special stage, a short, sharp 7 km loop with 260 m of climbing.
The linking stages between those venues supplied the bulk of the distance. The 2006 route looped out of Builth Wells: 85 km and 2,600 m of climbing to Nant-y-Arian on day one, on through Machynlleth to Coed-y-Brenin, a 75 km fourth linking stage with 3,000 m of climbing, then via Llanafan and a 90 km, 2,800 m day to Rhandirmwyn before the final 75 km leg home. The published totals for the launch year: approximately 543 km with 15,990 m of climbing including the special stages — some 338 miles and over 52,000 feet — or roughly 495 km and 14,800 m without them. The full day-by-day schedule is preserved on the stage breakdown page.
Weather was part of the package. The 2006 launch event was notoriously wet — later official material referred back to it simply as “the wet Trans Wales event in 2006” — and 2008 was remembered in the race’s own reports as a monsoon. A waterproof jacket sat on the mandatory kit list for good reason.
The moving camp and the race week
Logistically, the TransWales was a travelling village. The event was based at the White House Farm campsite in Builth Wells, a few minutes’ walk from the town centre, where riders registered on the opening Saturday between noon and 8 pm, had their bikes and mandatory kit checked, collected their event bags and timing chips, sat through the initial briefing and shared a pasta party before the 9 am start on Sunday morning.
From there the camp moved with the race — visitor centres, campgrounds, leisure centres and farms along the route, each with showers, toilets and water. Every rider received a large event holdall, roughly 35 × 40 × 100 cm, into which all clothing, spares, sleeping bag and mattress had to fit; the organisers transported one holdall per rider and one tent (up to a three-man) per team from location to location, so that riders carried only their day rations and tools on the bike. A broom wagon followed the course, sweeping up struggling riders. That “carry only what the day needs” discipline is one every multi-day rider still faces — the thinking behind pack sizing for long days is covered in the guide to choosing a riding pack.
Riders were fed breakfast, a rolling lunch handed out at a mid-route feeding station, and an all-you-can-eat dinner, with energy food available at checkpoints and two to three service stations on the long 80–100 km days. A mechanic and a massage tent waited at every stage end, and a crew from High5 travelled with the race selling energy food and drink. The week closed where it began, back at White House Farm on the final Saturday, with a finishers’ party and prize presentation. The fuller picture — registration, camping routines, catering, support crews — is on the TransWales event page.
Racing rewards were substantial for the era. The 2006 event carried a prize fund of £10,000 — £5,000 in cash and £5,000 in products — with daily winners taking prizes, overall leaders wearing leader jerseys through the week, and every finisher taking home a finishing jersey.
Sponsors and backing
Sponsorship is woven through the race’s identity, because the event’s official name changed with its title sponsor — a useful key for anyone reading period coverage:
- 2006: the Merida TransWales, with rider offers on Merida carbon bikes, four category sponsors, Bristol shop Mud Dock backing the new solo category and USE producing a “TransWales Special Edition” SUMO XCR Shockpost.
- 2007: no Wales edition — the series crossed the border as the Chain Reaction Cycles TransScotland, powered by Merida (see below).
- 2008: the Merida Bikes TransWales, with USE among the category sponsors.
- 2009 and 2010: the GORE BIKE WEAR TransWales, the 2010 edition additionally “powered by Mercedes-Benz Vito Sport”.
Supporting partners appeared throughout the race’s material: High5 supplied and sold nutrition on site, and Exposure Lights ran a top-up station for the lights riders needed on the night stage. All of this is recorded as historical fact.
Year by year: 2006 to 2010
The launch 2006 edition ran from 12th to 20th August and was greeted by its organisers with undisguised relief and pride — “What a week!” — after seven days of wet Welsh weather. Daily reports carried titles that entered the event’s folklore, from “The Night Train” to “The Longest Day” and “The Day of Reckoning”.
In 2007 the organisers took the format to the Scottish Borders instead, running the TransScotland out of Selkirk across roughly 503 km and 13,700 m of climbing, with 300 riders from 15 countries and a night stage at Glentress — documented on its own page. From 2008 the Wales event returned as the anchor of the series.
The second TransWales, in August 2008, ran on a course that was completely new in most places, covering some 550 km with 15,500 m of climbing over the week before rolling back into Builth Wells. 2009 brought the GORE BIKE WEAR era, a 180-rider field from four continents and an opening 91 km stage from Builth Wells to Llanidloes through the Elan Valley’s reservoirs, on a course designed by Builth Wells local John Lloyd. The 2010 edition started from Builth Wells on 15th August and introduced the Mini TransWales — a three- or four-day option sharing the same trails, camps and catering — with the four-day version covering roughly 300 km and 9,500 m of climbing and the three-day starting from Cwmystwyth, north-west of Rhayader. Season-by-season detail, including the daily race reports, lives on the history pages.
Why the Trans Wales mattered for UK stage racing
Before 2006, British riders who wanted a week-long stage race had to travel — to the Alps, to Canada, to South Africa. The Trans Wales MTB week changed that, and its organisers were clear about the achievement: the 2006 event, in the words of the official material, “managed to seamlessly slip into the ranks of these high class events and has finally put the UK on the global ‘MTB Trans’ map”.
Its influence rested on three things. It proved the multi-day format could work on British terrain, with Welsh trail centres as showcase venues. Its rally-style split between un-timed linking stages and timed specials made a week-long race genuinely accessible — a mid-pack team could ride the same course as the leaders, skip the racing entirely and still finish — while keeping the sharp end honest. And it drew sustained attention, closely followed by the press with daily updates across the mountain bike websites of the day.
The organisers’ own description remains the best summary: not just riding fast and long, but “making new friends whilst discussing the days events over dinner, riding through amazing countryside in one of the most picturesque parts of the British Isles, pushing your own limits… and simply about being part of something”.
The Trans Wales today
The TransWales no longer runs. Its final edition took place in August 2010, and the series that produced it — including the TransScotland — ended with it. These pages preserve the event’s record as a historical reference: the concept and format documents, stage plans, entry information, requirements lists, results and daily reports as published between 2006 and 2010.
The pages linked throughout this article are the natural starting points — the concept, the event week, the 2006 stages, entry as it worked at the time and the year-by-year history.
For a multi-day mountain bike race Wales has rarely seen matched since, its record is preserved here in full.
Frequently asked questions
What was the Trans Wales?
The Trans Wales (TransWales) was a seven-day mountain bike stage race across mid and north Wales, first run in August 2006 and last run in August 2010. It combined long un-timed linking stages with short timed special stages at Welsh trail centres, moving a full tented camp with the race.
When did the TransWales run?
Four editions were held: 2006 (12th–20th August), 2008, 2009 and 2010, always in August. In 2007 the organisers ran the TransScotland in the Scottish Borders instead, before returning to Wales in 2008. The event no longer exists.
Who organised the TransWales?
The event was run by Mountain Bike Events Ltd, based in Brislington, Bristol — the same organisation behind the Merida Bikes MTB Marathon series.
How long and how hard was the race?
The 2006 edition totalled approximately 543 km (338 miles) with 15,990 m (over 52,000 ft) of climbing including the special stages. Linking stages ranged from 33 km to 90 km, with up to 3,000 m of climbing in a day.
What was the format of the race?
A rally-style split: un-timed linking stages carried riders between overnight camps under a cut-off time announced at each morning briefing, while four timed special stages — three relay time trials and one team time trial, one of them at night — decided the classification. Late arrival on a linking stage brought penalties that counted against the timed results.
Did riders have to race the special stages?
No. The special stages were optional — teams could sit them out or ride them without chasing a time. But only teams that completed all four special stages were eligible for the overall classification.
Where did the race start and finish?
At the White House Farm campsite in Builth Wells, a few minutes' walk from the town centre. Registration, kit checks, the initial briefing and the pasta party were held there on the opening Saturday, and the route looped back to the same farm for the finishers' party a week later.
Which trail centres did the TransWales use?
The special stages used four venues: the trail centres at Nant-y-Arian (off the A44) and Coed-y-Brenin (off the A470), the Cli-machx trail near Corris and the Cwm-y-Rhayader trail near Rhandirmwyn. The organisers described this as using four of the six renowned trail centres then existing in Wales.
How much did entry cost?
In 2006, £400 per rider, secured by a non-refundable £100 deposit per team rider, with the balance due by 1st May. The price included all meals, camping, luggage transport, course support and the event holdall. By 2008 entry was tiered into packages at different price points, and 2010 added shorter Mini TransWales options from £160.
Did riders need to navigate?
Barely. The course was fully marked and marshalled, and teams carried a basic map and route card with reference points as a back-up. What riders did not get was the day's climbing profile — that was revealed only at the stage briefing.
Where did riders sleep?
In their own tents, at a camp that moved with the race — farms, campsites, visitor centres and leisure centre grounds, each with showers, toilets and water. One holdall per rider and one tent per team were transported between locations.
What was the night stage?
One special stage each year was run in darkness. In 2006 it was a 10 km team time trial at Coed-y-Brenin, starting from 8.30 pm with teams setting off at 30-second intervals. Riders brought fully charged lights plus a back-up; the only charging available was an Exposure Lights top-up station.
Was there prize money?
Yes — the 2006 event carried a £10,000 prize fund, split as £5,000 in cash and £5,000 in products. Day winners received prizes, overall leaders wore leader jerseys throughout the event, and overall winners took the cash awards.
Who sponsored the TransWales?
Merida was the launch title sponsor (the Merida TransWales in 2006, Merida Bikes TransWales in 2008), with GORE BIKE WEAR taking over for 2009 and 2010 — the last edition also "powered by Mercedes-Benz Vito Sport". Category and trade sponsors over the years included Mud Dock, USE, High5 and Exposure Lights.
How was the TransWales connected to the TransScotland?
Both were editions of the same series from the same organisers. After the 2006 TransWales, the 2007 event moved to the Scottish Borders as the Chain Reaction Cycles TransScotland, using the 7Stanes trails; from 2008 the race returned to Wales. The Scottish event is documented on the TransScotland page.
Does the Trans Wales still run?
No. The last TransWales took place in August 2010, and no edition has been held since. This site preserves the event's published record as a historical reference.